Savages Live on Morning Becomes Eclectic

There’s a point in any campfire where the flames die and the wood is pitch black turning into charcoal. The wood crackles and splits with veins of pure heat that radiate hotter than the dancing flames before it.

Savages were in-studio on MBE Tuesday morning to preview songs off their sophomore release, Adore Life. Their set, like the couple of teasers and video to “Adore,” is shot through with that dying fire energy, that quality…something akin to tense, restrained scintillating.

In between songs, singer Jehnny Beth spoke of her belief that music has the power to change people, even if for “3 minutes” at a time. Which was about as clear an intention (or possible mantra) as I’ve ever heard an artist state out loud.

Speaking of loud, their sound has been previously likened to post-punk outfits like Siouxsie and The Banshees or Joy Division meets PJ Harvey and that’s fair, but on Adore Life (which was mixed by Trentemoller) they’ve crystallized their sound into something more reminiscent of early 80s Simple Minds. The post-punk angularity is all there, but filtered through paranoid existential vulnerability and an acutely humanistic politic.